Mountain Gorilla Size, Height & Weight

Gorillas are divided into two species of eastern gorillas and western gorillas, mountain gorillas are a subspecies of eastern gorillas found in Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. Bwindi impenetrable forest national park is home to half of the world’s mountain gorilla population.

Gorillas have a DNA of 98% close to humans just like Bonobos and Chimpanzees; they inhabit the tropical and subtropical rainforests of the Virunga range region. Gorillas move by knuckle-walking though they can sometimes walk bipedally while holding food or in defensive situations.

Gorillas have nose prints unique to each individual just like humans have thumbprints unique to each person, gorillas construct new nests daily and the young ones sleep with their mothers until they are about four years of age, the nests are made of tree branches and leaves.

Size of Mountain Gorillas

Gorillas are the largest living primates in the whole world, baby mountain gorillas are born vulnerable just like human babies, and they can weigh about 3-4 kilograms and survive on their mother’s breast milk until the age of 4 years. Mountain gorilla size will keep changing as the gorilla grows.

Mountain gorillas are entirely herbivores animals that feed on leaves, fruits, bark, bamboo shoot, stems, and pith and sometimes supplement their diet with ants, termites and insects. Mountain gorillas use sticks to collect termites in holes and 25% of their diet is composed of fruits.

The heaviest gorilla ever recorded was 267 kilograms and 1.83 meters tall; this gorilla was shot in Ambam, Cameroon. Western gorillas in captivity can weigh up to 310 kilograms but mountain gorillas can hardly survive in zoos.

The height of Mountain Gorillas

An average height of a mountain gorilla is 1.7 meters tall, adult male gorilla heights range from 5 feet 5 inches to 5 feet 9 inches while females’ height ranges from 5 feet; they are shorter than the male gorillas.

Mountain gorillas move on four legs but can also stand on hind legs, mountain gorillas can move up to 20 feet on two legs. The tallest gorilla ever recorded was 1.95 meters tall with a wide chest of 1.98 meters and arm span of 2.7 meters weighing 219 Kilograms. This gorilla was shot in Alimbogo north of Kivu region in 1938.

The Gorilla trekking & Habituation experiences

To learn more about mountain gorilla size, weight and height tourists can find their way to Virunga national park in Congo, Bwindi and Mgahinga national park in Uganda and Volcanoes national park in Rwanda. Gorilla permits must be booked in advance of 3 months before the actual trekking date especially in the peak season due to high demands.

Tourists who are sick and under the age of 15 years old will not be allowed to visit mountain gorillas, after finding a gorilla family you will be given an hour of observation and it’s very important to follow gorilla trekking rules and regulations while in the presence of gorillas.

Gorilla habituation is the process of making mountain gorillas get used to human presence, this activity is only done in Bwindi impenetrable forest national park in Uganda and involves joining researchers and gorillas in habituation process, gorilla habituation is more advantageous as you spend four hours with gorillas, unlike trekking that takes only 1 hour.